More on the Urban Politics section

Dennis Judd Best Book Award
Best Dissertation Award
Byran Jackson Dissertation Research on Minority Politics Award 
The Urban Affairs Review Best Paper Award
Norton Long Career Achievement Award
Susan Clarke Young Scholars’ Award
Clarence Stone Scholar Award
Special Award for Best Book on Urban Policy
Special Award
Best Book in Urban Politics within Five Years

Dennis Judd Best Book Award

The Best Book Award recognizes the best book on urban politics published in the previous year

2025	Veronica Herrera, University of California Los Angeles Slow Harms and Citizen Action: Environmental Degradation and Policy Change in Latin American Cities. Oxford University Press, 2024.
2025	Honorable Mention Stephanie Ternullo, Harvard University How the Heartland Went Red: Why Local Forces Matter in an Age of Nationalized Politics. Princeton University Press, 2024.
2025	Honorable Mention Emily M. Farris, Texas Christian University Mirya R. Holman, University of Houston The Power of the Badge: Sheriffs and Inequality in the United States. University of Chicago Press, 2024.
2024	Patricia Strach, State University of New York at Albany The Politics of Trash: How Governments Used Corruption to Clean Cities, 1890-1929. Cornell University Press, 2023 Kathleen Sullivan, Ohio University The Politics of Trash: How Governments Used Corruption to Clean Cities, 1890-1929. Cornell University Press, 2023 Honorable Mention Domingo Morel, New York University Developing Scholars:  Race, Politics, and the Pursuit of Higher Education. Oxford University Press, 2023.
2023	Sally A. Nuamah, Northwestern University     Closed for Democracy: How Mass School Closure Undermines the Citizenship of Black Americans. Cambridge University Press, 2022
2022	Charley Willison, Cornell University     Ungoverned and Out of Sight: Public Health and the Political Crisis of Homelessness in the United States. Oxford University Press, 2021
2021	Adam Auerbach, American University Demanding Development: The Politics of Public Goods Provision in India’s Urban Slums. Cambridge University Press, 2019. Honorable Mention Xuefei Ren, Michigan State University Governing the Urban in China and India: Land Grabs, Slum Clearance, and the War on Air Pollution. Princeton University Press, 2020. Honorable Mention Eleonora Pasotti, University of California, Santa Cruz Resisting Redevelopment: Protest in Aspiring Global Cities. Cambridge University Press, 2020.
2019	Daniel T. O’Brien, Northeastern University The Urban Commons: How Data and Technology Can Rebuild Our Communities. Harvard University Press, 2018.
2018	Veronica Herrera, University of Connecticut Water and Politics: Clientelism and Reform in Urban Mexico. University of Michigan Press, 2017.
2017	Margaret (Peggy) Kohn, University of Toronto The Death and Life of the Urban Commonwealth Oxford University Press, 2016
2016	Lorrie Frasure-Yokely, University of California, Los Angeles Racial and Ethnic Politics in American Suburbs. Cambridge University Press 2015
2015	Amy Lerman, University of California, Berkeley Arresting Citizenship: The Democratic Consequences of American Crime Control. Chicago University Press, 2014
2015	Vesla Weaver, Yale University Arresting Citizenship: The Democratic Consequences of American Crime Control. Chicago University Press, 2014
2014	Traci Burch, Northwestern University Trading Democracy for Justice. University of Chicago Press
2014	Clarissa Hayward, Washington University in St. Louis How Americans Make Race. Cambridge Press
2013	J. Eric Oliver, University of Chicago Local Elections and the Politics of Small-Scale Democracy. (Princeton University Press, 2012)
2012	Steven Erie, Vladimir Kogan, Scott MacKenzie Paradise Plundered: Fiscal Crisis and Governance Failures in San Diego (Stanford University Press)
2011	Zoltan Hajnal, University of California San Diego America’s Uneven Democracy: Race, Turnout and Representation in City Politics
2011	Peter Eisenstadt Rochdale Village: Robert Moses, 6,000 Families, and New York City’s Great Experiment Integrated Housing
2009	Jessica Trounstine, Princeton University Political Monopolies in American Cities: The Rose and fall of Bosses and Reformers. (University of Chicago Press, 2008)
2007	Reuel Rogers, Northwestern University Afro-Caribbean Immigrants and the Politics of Incorporation: Ethnicity, Exception or Exit
2006	Richardson Dilworth, Drexel University The Urban Origins of Suburban Autonomy (Harvard University Press, 2005)
2006	Romain Garbaye, Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV) Getting into Local Power: The Politics of Ethnic Minorities in British and French Cities (Blackwell Publishing, 2005)
2005	James DeFilippis, CUNY, Baruch College Unmaking Goliath: Community Control in the Face of Global Capital
2004	Alan Altshuler, Harvard University Co-Authored with David Luberoff, Harvard University, Mega-Projects: The Changing Politics of Urban Public Investment (Brookings Institution, 2003)
2004	David Luberoff, Harvard University Co-Authored with Alan Altshuler, Harvard University, Mega-Projects: The Changing Politics of Urban Public Investment (Brookings Institution, 2003)
2003	Hank Savitch, University of Louisville Cities in the International Marketplace (Princeton)
2003	Paul Kantor, Fordham University Cities in the International Marketplace (Princeton)
2002	Susan Welch, Pennsylvania State University Race and Place: Race Relations in an American City
2002	Lee Sigelman, George Washington University Race and Place: Race Relations in an American City
2002	Timothy Bledsoe, Waye State University Race and Place: Race Relations in an American City
2002	Michael Combs, University of Nebraska Race and Place: Race Relations in an American City
2000	Jeffrey Henig, The George Washington University The Color of School Reform: Race, Politics, and the Challenge of Urban Education
2000	Richard Hula, Michigan State University The Color of School Reform: Race, Politics, and the Challenge of Urban Education
2000	Desiree Pedescleaux, Spelman College The Color of School Reform: Race, Politics, and the Challenge of Urban Education
2000	Marion Orr, Brown University The Color of School Reform: Race, Politics, and the Challenge of Urban Education
1999	Bruce Wallin, Northeastern University From Revenue Sharing to Deficit Sharing: General Revenue Sharing and Cities
1998	Amy Bridges, University of California, San Diego Morning Glories: Municipal Reform in the Southwest (Princeton University Press, 1997)
1997	Rodger Waldinger, University of California, Los Angeles Still the Promised City?: African-Americans and New Immigrants in Postindustrial New York (Harvard University Press, 1996)
1996	Eric Monkkonen, University of California, Los Angeles The Local State: Public Money and American Cities (Stanford University Press)
1994	Jeffrey Berry, Tufts University The Rebirth of Urban Democracy (Brookings Institution, 1993)
1994	Kent Portney, Tufts University The Rebirth of Urban Democracy (Brookings Institution, 1993)
1994	Kenneth Thomson, Tufts University The Rebirth of Urban Democracy (Brookings Institution, 1993)
1993	Richard DeLeon, San Francisco State University Left Coast City: Progressive Politics in San Francisco, 1975-1991 (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1992)
1992	Jonathan Kozol Savage Inequalities
1991	Michael Davis, Sarah Lawrence College City of Quartz (Verso)
1990	Clarence Stone, University of Maryland, College Park Regime Politics: Governing Atlanta 1946-1988 (University Press of Kansas)
1989	Steven Erie, University of California, San Diego Rainbow’s End: Irish-Americans and the Dilemmas of Urban Machine Politics 1840-1985
1988	Martin Shefter, Cornell University Political Crisis, Fiscal Crisis:

Best Dissertation Award

The Best Book Award recognizes the best book on urban politics published in the previous year

2025	Elisa Maria Wirsching, Princeton University “Essays on the Politics of Local Bureaucracy.”
2024	Alice Xu, Harvard University  “Segregation and the Spatial Externalities of Inequality: A Theory of Interdependence and Public Goods in Cities.” Harvard University
2022	Jae Yeon Kim, KDI     “Essays on the Politics of Solidarity in Multiracial America”
2022	Emily Rains “Negotiating Informality: Essays on Policy Needs and Political Problem-Solving in Indian Slums”
2021	Marshail Malik, Harvard University “The Microfoundations of Identity Politics in Pakistan’s Megacity”
2021	Tanu Kumar, College of William and Mary “How Welfare Shapes Beneficiaries’ Political and Economic Behavior: Evidence From Two Programs in India.”
2019	Peter Bucchianeri , Vanderbilt University “The Organization of Conflict in American Local Government.”
2017	Iza (Yue) Ding, University of Pittsburgh “Invisible Sky, Visible State: Environmental Governance and Political Support in China.”
2016	Zachary Todd Taylor, Western University “The Politics of Metropolitan Development: Institutions, Interests, and Ideas in the Making of Urban Governance in the United States and Canada, 1800-2000.” University of Toronto
2015	Alisha Holland, Harvard University “Forbearance as Redistribution: Enforcement Politics in Urban Latin America.” Harvard University, 2014
2014	Adam Auerbach, University of Wisconsin – Madison “Demanding Development: Democracy, Community Governance, and Public Goods Provision in India’s Urban Slums.”
2013	Eleanor Gao, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor “Diverse but Not Divisive: Tribal Diversity and Public Goods Provision in Jordan”
2012	Daniel Bliss, Illinois Institute of Technology “Defining the Path to Growth: Small Town Governance and Economic Development in an Age of Globalization”
2011	Quinton Mayne, Harvard University The Satisfied Citzen: Participation, Influence, and Public Perceptions of Democratic Performance
2010	Joshua Sapotichne, Michigan State University Reconstructing National Urban Policy: Agenda Setting in Complex Policy Areas
2009	James Ingram III, University of California, San Diego “The Rules of the Ruling: Charter Reforn in Los Angeles, 1850-2008”
2007	Paru Shah, Macalester College The Politics and Policy Implications of Latino Representation in Education
2005	Christine Palus, University of Michigan-Dearborn
2004	Lynette Rawlings, George Washington University “The Determinants of Cooperation among Local Governments in Metropolitan Areas” (Supervisor: Hal Wolman)
2003	Steven Johnson, Portland State University “The Transformation of Civic Institutions and Practices in Portland, Oregon, 1960-1999
2001	Mara Sidney, Rutgers University “Linking National Policy Designs and Local Action: A Comparison of Fair Housing and Community Reinvestment Policies”
2000	Patrick Joyce, Harvard University
1998	Timothy Krebs, University Of Chicago “The Politics of Chicago City Council Elections, 1979-1995”
1995	Gerald Gamm, Howard University “Neighborhood Roots: Exodus and Stability in Boston, 1870-1990”
1995	Guy Stuart, University of Chicago “Neighborhood Roots: Exodus and Stability in Boston, 1870-1990”
1991	Nancy Burns, Harvard University “Making Politics Permanent: The Formation of American Local Governments”
1990	Carol Pierannunzi, University of Georgia “The Role of Local Government in Land-Use Politics: Testing and Developing Models of Local Decision Making On Zoning Issues”

Byran Jackson Dissertation Research on Minority Politics Award

The Byran Jackson Award recognizes the outstanding scholarship by a graduate student in the area of race and urban politics.

2025	Antonia Gordon, Michigan State University “The Urban School Ecosystem.”
2025	Honorable Mention Jeremiah Cha, Harvard University “Racial Representation in American Local Politics.”
2024	Anum P. Syed, George Washington University “Ethnicity Across Borders: The Political Mobilization Against Dalit Discrimination in the United States.” George Washington University.
2023	LaRaven Temoney, University of Florida “The Lasting Impact of the Voter Education Project on Black Political Participation in the US South”
2022	Andrene Wright, Northwestern University “Black Women’s Politics in U.S Urban Cities: A 3-Part Paper Centering the Role of Black women Mayors in African American Politics”
2022	Ana Oaxaca, University of California, Los Angeles “All Politics is Local? The Impact of Nationalization on Local Elite Decision Making on Immigration”
2019	Hajer Al-Faham, University of Pennsylvania “Contingent Citizenship: Muslims in America.”
2017	Patricia Posey, University of Pennsylvania “Refinancing the American Dream: the Consequences of Targeted Financial Policy for Political and Radical Inequality in the United States.”
2016	Diane Wong, Cornell University “Disappearing Chinatowns:  The Struggle Against Gentrification in San Francisco, New York City, and Boston.”
2015	Brad Fulton, Duke University “Bridging and Bonding: How Social Diversity Influences Collective Political Action.” Duke University
2014	Zinga Fraser, Northwestern University “Catalysts for Change: A Comparative Study of Barbara Jordan and Shirley Chisholm.”
2013	Marquita Bowers-Brown, University of Missouri, Saint Louis “The St. Louis Desegregation Transfer Program: Does Participation Lessen the Educational Disparity between the City of St. Louis County Students?”
2011	Emily Farris, Brown University “Pathways to Power: An Examination of Latino Local Elected Officials”
2010	Jamila Michener, University of Chicago The Politics of Help Seeking in Marginalized Populations
2009	Carlos Cuellar, Rice University “The Latino Empowerment Process: An Examination of the Causes and Consequences of Latino Representation in Local Politics”
2006	Angela Hagan, University of Louisville Race, Consolidation, and Regionalism
2005	Paru Shah, Rice University
2004	Kristin Good, University of Toronto “Multiculturalism in the City: A Comparative Analysis of Municipal Responsiveness to Immigration in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and the Greater Vancouver Regional District”
2003	Michelle Camou, University of Colorado “Managing Conflict without Contracts: Achieving Economic Justice in the Informal Economy”
2000	Joshua Behr, University of New Orleans “An Explanation for the Presence of Minority-Opportunity Districts and the Election of Hispanics and Blacks to the City Council within Single Member District Election Systems”
2000	Mara Sidney, University of Colorado “Social Constructions of Race and Class in Fair Housing Policy”

The Urban Affairs Review Best Paper Award 

The Best Paper Award is given for the best paper given at an Urban Politics Section panel at the previous year’s APSA Annual Meeting.

2025	Elisa Maria Wirsching, Princeton University “Barriers to Representation: Selection Processes and Political Diversity in US Urban Bureaucracy.”
2025	Honorable Mention Joshua Ferrer, University of California, Los Angeles “To Elect or Appoint? Evidence from Local Election Administration.”
2025	Honorable Mention Mirya Holman, University of Houston Rebecca Johnson, Georgetown University Tyler Simko, Princeton University “Measuring Conflict in Local Politics.”
2024	Jonathan Colner, University of California, Davis “Ward Against Ward: District Elections and Particularism in US City Councils.”
2022	Varun Karekurve-Ramachandra, University of Rochester   “Can Gender Quotas Improve Public Service Provision? Evidence from Indian Local Government.” (2020).
2022	Alexander Lee, University of Rochester   “Can Gender Quotas Improve Public Service Provision? Evidence from Indian Local Government.” (2020).
2021	Rafaelle Bazurli, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice “Asylum Policy-Making in European Cities.”
2021	David Kaufmann, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology “Asylum Policy-Making in European Cities.”
2018	Rodney Hero, Arizona State University
2018	Morris Levy, Arizona State University
2018	Brian An, Arizona State University
2017	Shana Kushner Gadarian, Syracuse University “A Different Kind of Disadvantage: Candidate Race, Electoral Institutions, and Voter Choice.”
2017	Jessica Trounstine, University of California “A Different Kind of Disadvantage: Candidate Race, Electoral Institutions, and Voter Choice.”
2017	Kau Vue, University of California, Merced “A Different Kind of Disadvantage: Candidate Race, Electoral Institutions, and Voter Choice.”
2017	Melody Crowder-Meyer, The University of the South “A Different Kind of Disadvantage: Candidate Race, Electoral Institutions, and Voter Choice.”
2016	Kathleen Sullivan, Ohio University “Trash: A Political History, 1880-1920.”
2016	Elizabeth Pérez-Chiqués, University at Albany, State University of New York “Trash: A Political History, 1880-1920.”
2015	Katherine Einstein, Boston University “Cities, Inequality and Redistribution: Evidence from a Survey of Mayors.” APSA Conference 2014
2015	David Glick, Boston University “Cities, Inequality and Redistribution: Evidence from a Survey of Mayors.” APSA Conference 2014
2014	Veronica Herrera, University of Connecticut “From Participatory Promises to Partisan Capture: Local Democratic Transitions and Citizen Water Boards in Urban Mexico.”
2012	Todd Swanstrom “Divorcing Power and Responsibility: How National Policies Have Shaped Local Policy Responses to Foreclosures”
2011	Vladimir Kogan, University of California San Diego “Who Benefits from Jurisdictional Competition?”
2011	Scott Minkoff, Barnard College “The Proximate Polity: The Spatial Context of Local Develpmental Goods Provision”
2010	Jen Nelles, University of Toronto Cooperation and Capacity: Exploring the Sources and Limits of City-Region Governance Partnership
2009	Margaret Reid, University of Arkansas “When Does Politics Matter? A Reexamination of the Determinants of African American and Latino Municipal Employment Patterns”
2009	William Schreckhise, University of Arkansas “When Does Politics Matter? A Reexamination of the Determinants of African American and Latino Municipal Employment Patterns”
2007	Michael Jones-Correa, Cornell University Electoral Representation of New Actors in Suburbia
2006	Dorothy Shipps, Teachers College, Columbia University “Sticky’ School Reform: A Path Dependent Argument about Corporate Influence and Union Weakness in 20th Century Chicago”
2005	Michael Jones-Correa, Cornell University
2004	Megan Mullin, University of California, Berkeley “Specialization and Responsiveness in Local Policy Making: The Case of Water Districts”
2003	Jessica Trounstine, University of California, San Diego “Why Turnout Does Matter: The Effects of a Skewed Electorate on Minority Representation in Local Politics”
2002	Loren King, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Democratic Hopes in the Polycentric City
2001	Vojislava Filipcevic, Columbia University “Reclaiming the Urban Trenches”

Norton Long Career Achievement Award

The Norton Long Career Achievement Award is presented annually to a scholar who has made distinguished contributions to the study of urban politics over the course of a career through scholarly publication, the mentoring of students, and public service.

2024	Terry Jones, University of Missouri – St. Louis
2023	Laura Reese, Michigan State University
2022	Adolph Reed, University of Pennsylvania
2021	Terry Moe, Stanford University
2019	Luis Fraga, University of Notre Dame
2018	John Mollenkopf, CUNY, The Graduate Center
2017	H.V. Savitch, University of Louisville
2016	Steve Erie, University of California, San Diego
2015	Jeffrey Henig, Columbia University
2014	Richard Stren, University of Toronto
2013	Bryan Jones, University of Texas, Austin
2012	Hal Wolman, George Washington University
2011	Rodney Hero, University of California Berkeley
2010	Susan Clarke, University of Colorado, Boulder
2009	Wilbur Rich, Wellesley College
2007	Elaine Sharp, University of Kansas
2005	Martin Shefter, Cornell University
2004	Norton Long, University of Missouri, Saint Louis
2003	Michael Preston, University of California
2001	Marilyn Gittell, CUNY Graduate Center
2001	Dennis Judd, University of Missouri, St. Louis
1995	Paul Peterson, Harvard University
1994	Clarence Stone, University of Maryland, College Park
1993	Frederick Wirt, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
1992	Donna Shalala, University of Wisconsin, Madison
1991	Robert Dahl, Yale University
1990	Oliver Williams, University of Pennsylvania

Susan Clarke Young Scholars’ Award

The Susan Clarke Young Scholars award is given to scholars who are completing or have completed their Ph.D. within the last three years and submitted a paper proposal for the APSA meetings to the program chairs.

2025	Tanushree Goyal, Princeton University Stephanie Ternullo, Harvard University
2023	Alexander Sahn, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Alice Xu, Yale University
2022	Patricia Posey, University of Chicago
2022	Bryant Moy, Washington University in St. Louis
2022	Matthew Nelseon, University of Chicago
2021	Maria Carreri, University of California, San Diego
2021	Tanu Kumar, College of William and Mary
2019	Adam Auerbach, American University
2019	Sally A. Nuamah, Duke University
2018	Patricia Kirkland, Princeton University
2018	Peter Johansen, Princeton University
2017	Nazita Lajevardi, Michigan State University
2017	David Kaufmann, University of Bern
2017	Diane Wong, Cornell University
2017	Sally Lawton, Johns Hopkins University
2013	Mark Davis, University of Colorado, Denver
2013	Zachary Spicer, University of Western Ontario
2013	Veronica Herrera, University of Connecticut
2013	Sara Hughes, National Center Atmospheric Research
2010	Justin Gest, London School of Economics and Political Science “Alienation among European Muslims: Spanish Moroccans and British Bangladeshis”
2010	Scott Minkoff, University of Colorado, Boulder “A Space-Time Analysis of Local Competition and Cooperation”
2010	Meg Rithmire, Harvard University “Closed Neighborhoods in Open Cities: The Politics of Socio-Spatial Change in Urban China”
2010	Paolo Spada, Yale University “The Effects of Participatory Democracy: Evidence from Brazilian Participatory Budgeting”
2010	Manuel Teodoro, Colgate University “Political Institutions and Environmental Policy Choices: Water Conservation in America”
2004	Brian Adams, San Diego State University Norton Long Young Scholar
2004	Joshua Behr, Old Dominion University Norton Long Young Scholar
2004	Michael Owens, Emory University Norton Long Young Scholar
2004	Deborah Ward, Seton Hall University Norton Long Young Scholar
2002	Carol Conaway, Wellesley College “Covering Mayors: Race, Riots, and Responsibility”
2002	Mara Sidney, Rutgers University, Newark
2002	Brady Baybeck, University of Missouri, St. Louis
2002	Gustavo Cano, University of San Diego
2001	Peter Burns, Trinity College “Electoral Politics Is Not Enough: The Ongoing Struggle of African Americans and Latinos for Full Representation in Urban Politics”
2001	Anirudh Ruhil, University of Illinois at Chicago “Beyond Lipservice: Unpacking the Roots and Fruits of Municipal Institutions”

Clarence Stone Scholar Award

The Clarence Stone Young Scholars award for scholars who are ABD or completed their Ph.D. within the last three years and submitted a paper proposal to the APSA Meeting.

2025	Michael Hankinson, George Washington University
2024	Natalia Bueno, Emory University Matthew D. Nelsen, University of Miami
2022	Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, Harvard University
2022	Yanilda González, Harvard University
2021	Eduardo Moncada, Barnard College
2021	Katherine Einstein, Boston University
2019	Sally A. Nuamah, Duke University
2019	Carrie LeVan, Colby College
2019	Peter Bucchianeri, Vanderbilt University
2018	Aaron Deslatte, Northern Illinois University
2018	Miyra Holman, Tulane University
2017	Jack Lucas, University of Calgary
2017	Domingo Morel, Rutgers University – Newark
2012	Rachel L. Moskowitz, Northwestern University
2012	Jungah Bae, Florida State University
2012	Thomas K. Ogorzalek, Columbia University
2012	Shanthi, Karuppusamy, University of Northern Illinois
2012	Christopher Hawkins, University of Central Florida
2012	Eric Zeemering, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
2012	Alison Post, University of California-Berkeley
2012	Els de Graauw, Baruch College, City University of New York

Special Award for Best Book on Urban Policy

Special Award for Best Book on Urban Policy for the best book on a special topic within the field of urban politics.

2009	Jessica Trounstine, Princeton University Political Monopolies in American Cities: The Rose and Fall of Bosses and Reformers (University of Chicago Press, 2008)
2002	Clarence Stone, The George Washington University Building Civic Capacity: The Politics of Reforming Urban Schools
2002	Bryan Jones, University of Washington Building Civic Capacity: The Politics of Reforming Urban Schools
2002	Carol Pierannunzi, Kennesaw State University Building Civic Capacity
1995	Evan McKenzie, University of Illinois, Chicago Privatopia: Homeowner Associations and the Rise of Residential Private Government (Yale University Press)
1992	Michael Keating, University of Western Ontario Comparative Urban Politics: Power and the City in the United States, Canada, Britain and France, (Edward Elgar)
1991	Robert Stein, Rice University Urban Alternatives: Public and Private Markets in the Provision of Local Services, (University Press)

Special Award

The Special Award if given for contributions to urban political theory.

1988	Edward Banfield

Best Book in Urban Politics within Five Years

1993	Stephen Elkin
1988	Todd Swanstrom, State University of New York at Albany The Crisis of Growth Politics: Cleveland Kucinich, and the Challenge of Urban Populism (Temple University Press, 1985)